On the Run
by CUtopia
Summary: Rolanda is on the run during the war as something confusing happens...


So, this is a entry for the "The Spell, Curse and Charm Challenge/Competition" by D-Savano

This is the spell I have chosen:

**Muffliato**\- Spell. Prevents nearby people from listening to conversations. Write about someone on the run.

I hope you enjoy this one :)

* * *

The glowing sun lowered itself towards the horizon, dipping the hilly landscape into a red light, making the thick layer of snow sparkle. It was a peaceful atmosphere, quiet except for some animals moving in the undergrowth of the forest that was nearby.

Just as the sun was about to completely disappear, a sharp plop disturbed the peace and a women appeared out of nowhere, stumbling through the snow towards the forest, her breathing was heavy, producing small clouds of mist in front of her mouth.

The darkness had already crept into the forest, but the woman simply lit her wand with a mumbled spell while she carried on walking, sometimes turning to look if someone was following her and from time to time she even stopped, held her breath and listened into the upcoming night. But every time she was proven that she was the only human soul in this forest.

After some more minutes of walking, which took her a little bit longer now as she started to erase the footprints she left in the snow, she reached a small clearing on which she finally stopped.

"Muffliato. Protego maxima", the woman mumbled, setting up protection charms around her position before she finally sat down under the snow-laden, low hanging branches of a tree, leaning her head back, eyes closing as a exhausted sigh escaped her lips.

Rolanda Hooch, former flying teacher of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, allowed her some careful feeling of relief. She had been forced to apparate to several places during the day to hide her trail from the snatchers. They were hard to fool, at least some of them, and with her luck, she had those after her that had some brains while the dumb ones were surely looking for Harry Potter. She just hoped that the boy was still alive and actually had a plan!

The young witch felt a sharp pain in her left wrist as the adrenaline level in her blood dropped and as she pulled it from the warmth of her cloak she saw that she was bleeding. She had obviously lost some skin and flesh during her last rushed disapparating, she had been not entirely focused on that goddamn hill... She took her wand and started to heal herself, then wrapped some bandages around her hand. It did hurt, but not that much that she would be bothered – the injuries she had suffered during her professional Quidditch career had been worse by far.

Rolanda lit a magical fire and started to prepare a small meal, the first warm one in a few days. She had been on the run for about three months now, shortly after she had joined the Order of the Phoenix after she had decided not to return to Hogwarts, a action that had let to this situation at one hand, but on the other, she did not regret it. All her life she had been a fighter and now, in these dark times, she just didn´t wanted to hide her opinion, she had wanted to stand up and fight for it, well aware of the risk she was taking.

Her thoughts wandered over to Severus Snape. The man who had fooled them all in the past years, probably being the best actor they had ever seen. He had betrayed them, taken advantage of Dumbledore´s trust.

She had used to see him as a friend. They had challenged each other verbally, playfully mocking the other one over small things. Had she imagined the closeness between them? The rare, barely notable smiles that he had given her when no one was watching. When she closed her eyes she could still feel his dark eyes on her, his hand brushing over his when they both reached for something at the same time, and his scent. He had once embraced her and she had inhaled it deeply, feeling her skin prickle...

To be honest, she had loved him. More likely, she still loved him, but felt a cold hand grabbing for her heart when she thought about him, always having his actions in mind, how he had hidden so much from her all these years...

Suddenly, Rolanda was ripped out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps in the snow. She pushed herself up into a standing position within a second, her wand ready, erasing the fireplace. It gave her some safety that whoever it was would not be able to see or hear her due to her spells, but she still pressed herself tightly to the tree, holding her breath as she saw people coming towards her position. Fear made her heart pound faster and the grip around her wand tightened as her eyes, already more then used to working good at nighttime, registered that the group had stopped between the tree´s right at the beginning of the clearing.

"Are you sure that she is here?", a annoyed voice of a woman sounded through the cold air. "I mean, she could be anywhere, who tells us that she has not apparated somewhere else after arriving here?"

"Why would she be important? She joined the Order just a few months ago, I doubt that she knows any secrets, you said it yourself, but still you left Hogwarts to search for her!", a man said after clearing his throat. Then a third voice, very familiar to Rolanda, snarled:"I have not asked for your company at this search, so just keep quiet if you feel forced to follow me! The reason why I am searching for her is nothing of your concern."

Severus... what was he doing here?! Rolanda gulped, trying to calm herself down. Why would he look for her, as these death eaters just said, she was not important, the only "secret" she was carrying with her was the thing that would inform her if any bigger meeting of the Order would be risked and Severus had been in the Order for years, he surely had his own ways to know about their actions, he didn´t needed someone else for that!

She saw how the darkest of the three figures, undoubtedly Severus Snape, started to walk towards the tree she was standing under and she feared that Severus could hear her heart that was pounding hard in her chest. His wand lit and blinded her for a brief moment, as she opened them again it was as if Severus was directly staring at her, but she was sure that he was not able to see her. Even while she felt the urge to curse him for his betrayal, she was happy to see that he was unharmed, that he was okay. He looked like always, his dark eyes being unreadable, his lineaments showing not a single sign of his emotions and his black robes slightly billowed in the cold breeze.

And suddenly, he smirked knowingly, closed his eyes for a few seconds and thereby took a deep breath as if he was inhaling something. Then, he winked before his face went back into his usual shapes. Rolanda had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from making a surprised noise – he knew that she was standing under this tree! He seemed to smell her perfume and maybe... hell, he was a legimens... but she did not feel as if he was invading her?! He continued to look at her for about a half minute, then he turned on his heel, telling his companions that he had been wrong and that he had to return to Hogwarts. As they disappeared, they left a shivering Rolanda, crouching in the snow, wondering how Severus had located her, and why. She must have gone crazy, she must have imagined his reaction... or maybe not?

It was hard to settle down for sleep in this night, the experience still haunting her mind. She knew that she needed the rest, every day on the run was demanding so much nerves and energy from her, but her mind disobeyed her order to just keep its mouth shut.

And from now on every night she would dream of Severus, his eyes fixing her and how he had smirked at her and sometimes she just felt as if he was with her, keeping her company while she was on the run.


End file.
